Foremost lawyer and human rights activist, Femi Falana has shed light
on why he was not appointed a minister by President Muhammadu Buhari
despite many Nigerians rooting for his appointment.
Falana is from Ekiti State, the same state as incumbent Minister for Solid Minerals, Kayode Fayemi, who president Buhari picked as his nominee for the state.
Speaking to The Interview magazine which is currently on sale, Falana said: “I was actually contacted. I was actually invited to come on board. It took me appreciable time to make up my mind.
“Along the way, I was made to understand there were people who were opposed to my appointment for ideological reasons. It is their right to do so.”
“For me, it would have been a call to service, not to make money,” he said.
“Those who believed that I should mobilise people to put in a word for me, or wanted me to speak to somebody I fought on principle several years ago were, of course, disappointed.
“This guy actually headed one of the universities at a time students were killed.
“I had to support the students’ cause at that time. You don’t then expect me to go to him and swallow my vomit. This is what I mean by the ideological price.”
Falana added that there were also “certain leaders” of the All Progressives Congress (APC) that opposed his appointment because he was not a member of the party. “Of course, they are right.
“Certain people wanted me to be opportunistic by offering to backdate a membership card for me. I said, ‘no, over my dead body’. I wasn’t looking for a job. I was gainfully employed.”
-Daily Independent
Falana is from Ekiti State, the same state as incumbent Minister for Solid Minerals, Kayode Fayemi, who president Buhari picked as his nominee for the state.
Speaking to The Interview magazine which is currently on sale, Falana said: “I was actually contacted. I was actually invited to come on board. It took me appreciable time to make up my mind.
“Along the way, I was made to understand there were people who were opposed to my appointment for ideological reasons. It is their right to do so.”
“For me, it would have been a call to service, not to make money,” he said.
“Those who believed that I should mobilise people to put in a word for me, or wanted me to speak to somebody I fought on principle several years ago were, of course, disappointed.
“This guy actually headed one of the universities at a time students were killed.
“I had to support the students’ cause at that time. You don’t then expect me to go to him and swallow my vomit. This is what I mean by the ideological price.”
Falana added that there were also “certain leaders” of the All Progressives Congress (APC) that opposed his appointment because he was not a member of the party. “Of course, they are right.
“Certain people wanted me to be opportunistic by offering to backdate a membership card for me. I said, ‘no, over my dead body’. I wasn’t looking for a job. I was gainfully employed.”
-Daily Independent
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